pretty flower | 강새벽

005

"Let out the ones who want to leave, and let the remaining player continue!" Player 322 yelled as he emerged from the crowd "Half of us are already dead! You can't just stop here!" 

"He's right! At least let us continue!" Someone else protested. 

"We also find it a pity to say goodbye so soon. But we will not completely shut this door for the opportunity" The square man announced, grabbing everyone's attention "If the majority wish to participate again, we will resume the games. Goodbye then." 

I stare towards the front of the room, not allowing myself to look away as people started walking away from the big group of people. 

"Come on." Gi-hun nudged me. Instead of moving, I continued to watch the men in suits. They wore masks to conceal their identity.

"Who are you? " I mutter under my breath before turning and walking away. 

I followed the group of people as a few masked men guided us to the same vans as before. 

"I wonder what they'll do this time." I scoff, hoping they would be a little more gentle this time when they knocked me out. 

"What do you mean?" Gi-hun asked, turning towards me as we stopped. 

"On the way here, they bashed my head into something to get me to pass out." 

"Isn't that what that weird gas is for?" 

"It doesn't work on me." 

Gi-hun looked at me with shock. I rolled my eyes and continued walking, leaving him behind. 

"Enter one at a time." A triangle mask stated as he placed a hand on my back, grabbing onto my shirt and pulling me backwards. 

"You're coming with me." He said, signalling another masked man to stand at the van. 

He pulled me away from everyone else, his grip on my shirt remaining the same. We walked for a few seconds before he pushed me to the ground. He turned around, grabbing a fabric bag, some rags, and some rope. 

"What is that for? Oh, I know, you're into some really kinky stuff." I nod. Once again, instead of answering, I get ignored. "I see you're just as much fun as the others."

He walks towards me and begins to tie the rope around my wrists. It was a loose knot and I would've been able to slip out of it easily. He then shoved a rag into my mouth and shoved the fabric bag over my head.

"Please don't hit me across the head with something again." I try to say, but the rag in my mouth causes the words to be undetectable. 

Before I had the chance to do anything else, I felt something solid hit the side of my skull, causing my ears to ring and my head to pound. Within seconds, my body felt numb and I lost all sense of control. 

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Cold. 

Wet. 

Sore.

These were what I was feeling at the moment. I opened my eyes and found myself on the side of the road, a recognizable van driving away.  I groaned as I attempted to roll over, figuring out that my legs and arms were tied up. 

"Fuck!" I yelled as a rock jabbed into my back. 

"Are you okay?" It was a female voice, familiar and warm. 

"No, I'm not okay! I have a rock stabbed into my back, I am in the middle of nowhere with no clothes on, I don't even know who you are because my vision is still blurry from being hit in the head with something, and it's cold! So, don't ask me if I'm okay!" I yelled, causing the rock in my back to dig in deeper as I moved again. 

"First of all, stop moving if you don't want that rock to be stuck in your back or the rest of your life. Secondly, it's Sae-Byeok." 

"Sae-Byeok?" I asked, trying to turn to face her.

"Stop moving!" She yelled, "I'll untie you, and we'll get that rock out of your back." 

I felt her hands attempting to untie the knot by my wrist. As she kept going, I felt the rope loosen and soon enough, my arms were free. As I moved my arms in front of me, I felt the rock moving, causing me to harshly inhale. 

"It's okay, the rock doesn't look to be too deep and it should be easy to come out," Sae-Byeok assured me. 

I roll over to face her "Turn around." 

"Why?" 

"So I can untie you, so you can get this rock out of my back." 

She nodded her head and turned away from me, allowing me to untie her wrists. She rolled back over and pulled me over towards her, wrapping her arms around me and placing both of her hands on my back. 

"Ready?" she asked. 

I nod my head in response and she begins to pull out the rock. I tense up as she pulls out the rock, causing me to wrap my arms around her, holding tight. She continued pulling until it's completely out. 

"Done." She smiled as she showed me the rock.

"It was that small?" I glare at the 3-inch rock. 

"For a rock, it's not that small." 

"I've had bigger things inside me." I huff as I let go of her and sit up. I start untying the rope at my ankles, not noticing the look Sae-Byeok was giving me. 

"What kind of bigger things?" 

"Sciccors, a couple knifes, glass. Stuff like that." 

"Oh" 

"Oh? What were you thinking about?" 

"I don't know, something other than items that could harm you." 

I stare at her with big eyes "What kind of things?" 

"Uhhh" 

"You pervert!" I laugh, causing her to shy away. "Whatever, c'mon pervert, I'm not staying out here on the side of a road all night." 

I stand up and start walking down the road.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she calls from behind.

"You'll catch up." 

"I might, but I'm not sure your clothes will." 

I stop walking and look down towards myself, realizing I didn't have my clothes yet. I ran back toward her and grabbed the pile of clothes that belonged to me. I quickly slipped on my pants and my shirt before walking back down the road. Sae-Byeok catches up to me and we walk down the road quietly.  

"Thanks," I mutter " for everything." 

"Don't worry about it." 

We continued walking, silent again. 

"Where are you headed after this?" She asks.

"I'll probably go and check in on my siblings, make sure that they're okay." I answered "You?" 

"I'll visit my brother. See how's he doing. I promised him some ice cream." 

"It's best I don't keep you from that. I don't want to be the reason you break a promise." 

She nods and we go back to walking in silence. 

That's the way it stayed until we arrived in town and went our separate ways. 

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Word Count: 1151